August 7, 2021 Opening Statement: “I thought they came out and competed. We got some work. It was a dry run. It was a mesh between practice and pregame, how we’re going to get our groups out to stretch, the whole pregame routine. Had a period and then somewhat a scrimmage without being live. Just trying to get some field work, first and second-down, base work, third-down, red zone. Then, we finished with two-minute. So, they competed. It’s a lot to clean up. That’s when you do it. It’s a lot to clean up. When you get in this environment, too, you find out – because now there’s no more scripted, there’s no more prep, you’re in it. You’re in the performance, and you have to adjust, adapt, apply your rules. You see some guys that really rise up and embrace it. Then you see some that just are not there yet. That’s when you do it.” On if the wide receivers that sat out are tending to injuries: “Tyrell (Williams), he’s fine. We want to take care of him and be smart with him because he’s in a good place. His groins are a little bit tight. He’s had a good two weeks. We wanted to be smart. (Quintez) Cephus kind of bumped his head yesterday on the ground. So, we’re just being safe with him. (Breshad Perriman) BP kind of had a hip. You saw the long one when he went down and landed on it. We’re a little bit short. We we’re a little bit short at DB, too. We kind of had to alter it a little bit today, take care of those guys, but get our work.” On the scuffle at practice between OLB Robert McCray and T Taylor Decker: “That’s something that we’ll just check and see what’s up. That wasn’t throwing him out. Certainly, that’s not what we want and that will be addressed. I mean, it will. I know that probably wherever this goes, it’s like, ‘Oh, that’s what I want and it’s OK to do that.’ They’ll know. I’ll make sure they know.” On if he feels good about TEs T.J. Hockenson and Darren Fells stepping in for the injured wide receivers: “Yeah, you do. We kind of have a pretty good feel of (T.J.) Hockenson. He showed up once again. It does make you feel good because sometimes, just because the perception is, ‘You don’t have a certain area,’ or maybe, ‘They’re just having a bad day,’ or whatever that is, that you know you have got somebody like the tight end or tight ends. (Darren) Fells, he did, he made a couple plays today. So, that’s something that I feel pretty good about. And then there again, knowing where you think (D’Andre) Swift can be and Jamaal (Williams) for that matter. We don’t look at Jamaal as, ‘All you can do is run the ball and protect. You don’t do anything to the pass game.’ I think there’s more to him than just that, too. So yeah, it certainly helps you breathe a little easier if you will.” On if he planned his pre-practice speech to the fans: “It just comes natural. That’s just me. It’s the first thing that came to my head. Now, it’s not like it came right before I got the microphone. But it was like, you know what, it was the first thing that hit my head. So, that’s what I’m going to say.” On if some of the players are adjusting to pads better than others: “Oh, yeah. It’s no different than the guys who have been in pads, not in pads. Some of these guys look really good without pads on. You’re like, ‘Wow.’ Then you put pads on and they just drift away, they fall away. Once you get in these competitive settings, unscripted, move the ball, you’ve got to be in queue with the call, the personnel, what the formation is, the motions, everything. Now all of a sudden, it’s on you and it’s a little more high pressure. This is normal. This happens. You see some guys rise up and they do. They show who they are. They’re gamers. Then you see some that pressure’s a little much for them. You need to find out.” On if the kicking performance today concerns him: “No, because (Randy) Bullock has been kicking it well to this point. He had a rough one today. Now, let’s see how we correct it. It’s not going to be a knee-jerk reaction from me right now. I mean, it’s way too soon to do that. But certainly, he’d be the first one to tell you he needs to kick better.“ |
